Conference Calls and Tin Soldiers
by PPE
Summary: She never thought that she would look so flustered after one simple conference call. All from a little toy soldier. Who would have guessed? KyuzoxKilara
1. In the Office

Disclaimer: I don't own Samurai 7

Ms. Kilara Hotaru had been working for Mr. Kyuzo as his secretary for over eight months now, and to be perfectly honest she didn't mind.

It was true that her boss had a nasty cold shoulder and a suspiciously play boy attitude, but that didn't bother her. Of course, no one ever questioned Mr. Kyuzo's motives as to why he brought a different fresh new beautiful girl into his office almost every day for hours at a time. And once the lady left his office her clothes were always in disarray, her hair messed up and her face flustered. One couldn't help but be a bit suspicious of him, even though Kilara was sure not all the rumors were true.

After all, she was a young woman, maybe not beautiful by some standards but she still considered herself 'in the league' and her boss had yet to send a wondering eye her way.

Never once had given her more than a passing glance or a nod of his head. Kilara suspiciously suspected that he had never bothered to learn her name, but of course none of that could be proven either since the longest conversation she ever had with him was 'I'm in a conference call right now, have them call back in two or three hours.'

'The Conferences' that he always referred to when she connected her phone through to his in his private office, were the 'meetings' he had with the lovely young women that visited him.

Truth be told, she wasn't exactly giving him enough credit. For when she first started working for Mr. Kyuzo she had still been dating her ex and had even been wearing his promise ring at the time. Perhaps that and the picture of the two on her desk, gave her boss the hint that she wasn't interested in another relationship.

And naturally he had been busy as well recalling that time in the late fall and early winter when he had brought the same girl to his office for over three months in a row. It was almost unheard of for him to bring the same girl to his office for two times in a row, nevertheless three months, giving Kilara the impression that the two were intimately involved.

But as the saying goes 'all good things come to an end' and that was too true for Mr. Kyuzo as well. As expected, one day his lady friend didn't show up and after much fuss and silent suffering Mr. Kyuzo had went on an extended vacation for a month. Rumor flooded around the office that the two had had 'a bad falling out together.'

That had been around Christmas. A few weeks before her and her ex's big break up. Thinking back, Kilara felt guilty for not noticing her boss's silent distress at the time. She herself had been busy with her ex and facing the truth that their relationship was declining.

But once she had learned of the real reason her boss had left for vacation, she had went out and bought Mr. Kyuzo a small Christmas gift. It wasn't anything fancy or expensive, making the gift more of a comforting gesture than anything else. She had bought him a hand sized tin soldier, one that he could use as a paperweight.

The only problem had been giving him the little gift since he was still on vacation. After a small debate with herself she had decided to leave it on his desk and let him discover it on his own.

That had been over three weeks ago and her boss still hadn't returned. Of course much can happen in three weeks and Ms. Kilara's life wasn't any exception. Her relationship with her boyfriend had declined so far that they had both agreed to go their separate ways.

Which of course eventually led to Kilara steadily cleaning out her desk. Anything that reminded her of her ex had to be trashed. The first thing that was disposed was the promise ring and the photo of her and her ex had followed. With her boss's long absence Kilara had had plenty of time to think and over that time she had decided to move back to her home town and away from anything reminded of her time here with her ex.

And unfortunately for her, that meant her job as well. She was planning to quit as soon as Mr. Kyuzo came back.

After all, Kilara and her ex had been together for over four years and the sudden break up had shaken Ms. Kilara somewhat. The loss had been painful and while there were no bitter feelings between them, Kilara found that thinking of him for too long led to pain.

What made the situation even more difficult was that Kilara wasn't allowed to formally resign until Mr. Kyuzo himself had signed her dismissal papers. And that was all fine and dandy but the wait had been brutal.

Eventually luck favored her and two days ago her boss came back. He looked the same and acted as much. Ms. Kilara immediately noticed that within the last two days Mr. Kyuzo had brought two new ladies in to visit with him.

All the more fortunate today when Mr. Kyuzo usually had a guest there were none, giving Ms. Kilara the perfect opportunity to slip in and have him sign her dismissal paper.

Reaching over, Kilara pressed the intercom and hesitantly spoke into it.

"Sir?" A few moments later he replied.

"What?" A deep voice answered. He always saved the formalities for his special guest.

"I have something for you to sign," She began, expecting the boss to come out and sign them. After all, no one was allowed to enter his closed off office except for his guests.

It was an unusual procedure but Mr. Kyuzo never complained. It was just how he rolled.

"Alright, bring them in." Kilara froze. That wasn't normal procedure. Normal procedure was,

'_Alright, I'll be there in a moment.' _And then him coming out and signing them.

"Sir?" She tried again, but Mr. Kyuzo didn't respond, making it quite clear that she hadn't misinterpreted his words.

Sighing heavily, Ms. Kilara gathered up the paper and shakily stood. She was nervous, but then again who wouldn't be nervous.

As Kilara made her way to her boss's office she absently wondered if she was in trouble. Recalling the fact that she had snuck in his office around Christmas and had left the tin soldier with a small scrapped paper saying _Happy Holidays _and her name on it indicating who it was from.

At the time it had seemed like an innocent idea, but perhaps Mr. Kyuzo had taken it the wrong way. Perhaps he was dwelling too much on the fact that she had snuck into his office knowing full well that that was forbidden.

Kilara didn't have much time to dwell on it, for soon enough she found herself at her boss's door. Meekly she knocked on the door.

"Come in." Was the curt reply.

Bracing herself for the worst, Kilara opened the doorway. Gracefully she sailed across the room to the sight of Mr. Kyuzo sitting on his messy desk with a tin soldier in his hand.

She stopped suddenly in the front of his desk, posture perfect. After all, if you're going down, you might as well go down looking good.

Kilara held her breath and closed her eyes, waiting for the worst, but after a few moments of silence she opened her eyes to find Mr. Kyuzo still sitting on his desk tinkering with the paperweight. His face was emotionless as expected.

After a few moments that seemed to drag into eternity, Mr. Kyuzo finally looked up, but even then he said nothing.

Ms. Kilara shifted nervously. She could feel his eyes on her and it made her fidget and very uneasy. Finally, unable to take the silent attention any longer she prompted,

"You wanted to see me, Mr. Kyuzo?" Relief flooded through her when he set the tin soldier down and stood up, away from his desk.

"Please, its just Kyuzo." He said simply. Nodding shyly, Ms. Kilara couldn't help but wonder not for the fist time what his motive was for allowing her inside his office. Kilara jumped when she heard her boss's voice again.

"Take a seat, Ms. Kilara." She heard him say, as he pulled out a chair for her to sit in. Kilara's theories and wondering if her boss knew her name flew out the window, but that was the last thing on her mind.

Once she was comfortably sitting, Mr. Kyuzo went back to his original position on his desk and picked up the tin soldier again.

"This," He gestured to the paperweight.

"Is from you?" He finished. Kilara was still nervous about her boss's strange behavior and unable to find the words so she settled for a meek nod.

A small smile crept to Mr. Kyuzo's face but Kilara didn't notice it. Closing her eyes and collecting her thoughts, Kilara heard the intercom buzz.

"Yes?" Came the expected reply.

"Sir, we have a phone call from Mr. Zobou on line twelve." The voice no doubt belonged to one of his employers down the hall. His answer to the information shook Kilara to the core.

"Not now. I'm in a conference call right now, have them call back in an hour." Kilara's eyes flew open in shock, only to find Kyuzo's face inches from her own. She would jumped if she hadn't been so surprised.

'So this is why I've been-' Her thoughts were so jumbled that she couldn't think straight.

When Mr. Kyuzo leaned in a little further, Kilara thought that he was going to kiss her, but in the last second he turned her gaze slightly and reached a steady hand out to touch her hair.

"That was a nice gift you gave me. Did I ever mention my thanks?" He asked, acting as if nothing relevant was happening.

"No – No sir, I mean - Kyuzo" Her boss smiled at her stutter and gently pulled a small strand of her hair into his grasps, absently running it through his fingers. The whole action, made Kilara's heart speed up.

"You have lovely hair." He continued, a little off subject. Kilara absently crushed her dismissal papers in her right hand.

When she stuttered out a thank you, Mr. Kyuzo quietly smiled at her discomfort and pulled away from her, making Kilara a bit easier now that they were a safer distance away. She didn't relax however, unused to her boss being anything but cold to her.

"Well, allow me to do so by taking you out to dinner tomorrow." Kilara's thoughts were in a haze.

"Allow you to what?" She asked, her voice squeaky, even to her own ears.

"Allow me to thank you by taking you out to dinner tomorrow." Was his patient and undertone amused reply.

It took a total of three seconds for Kilara to comprehend his words, but once she did she jumped out of her seat.

"No sir. K-Kyuzo. I don't think that –

"I see that you are no longer wearing a ring he said." Trying to reason his way into Ms. Kilara's approval. Standing up, he made his way over to his stunned secretary. When she gave no reply, he brought her left hand up for emphasis, assuring her silence.

"I know it's not my business, but I couldn't help notice that that picture of you and your friend? Is no longer on your desk." Hinting towards the fact that she was now single, as he kissed her hand.

Dazed by the action, Kilara could only nod still wondering how even noticed. This was not like him at all, but then again she only saw him a handful of times a day, anyway.

"So I'm going to assume that you'll be free tomorrow night?" He asked hopefully. When she nodded again he dazzled her with a smile that sent chills down her spine.

"Excellent. You live in the Hikarou apartments across town right?" He asked, tucking her left hand underneath his arm and escorting her to the door.

"How did you know that?" He answered her with a knowing glance and continued.

"I'll pick you up tomorrow at seven. Dress formally." Kilara barely noticed that he had opened the door and was waiting patiently for her to exit. Still in a daze, she complied.

She absently thought of how ridiculous she might have looked then. Her hair wasn't mangled and her clothes weren't in any sort of distortment, but she was indeed flushed. It had seemed like she had been in his office for hours when in reality it had only been a total of fifteen minutes. Fifteen long minutes.

It took her a few minutes of silence and steps into the hallways when she realized that she had forgotten to inform him of her resignation. So when she heard her boss's door open again, she immediately turned around hopeful.

"Oh and Ms. Kilara?" He asked.

"Yes?" She prodded. He flashed her another unusual smile and said,

"I know it's been over a month, but I got you a Christmas gift as well. It's over on your desk." Kilara slumped. That wasn't what she wanted to hear. Oblivious to her posture, Kyuzo continued in his deep voice.

"I look forward to more conference calls with you in the future." He hinted making Kilara flush and the rest of his employees' that were listening eyes bulge from their sockets.

"Of course sir." She stammered out, forgetting that he had asked her to call him simply by his first name.

He nodded and started to close the door, before he remembered.

"Oh, what was it that you wanted me to sign?" Subconsciously Kilara crumpled the papers in her hand.

"Nothing."


	2. In the Apartment

Disclaimer: I don't own Samurai 7

A music box. He had gotten her a music box.

Ms. Kilara watched it warily from the bathroom. It was currently resting in the hallway on the small cherry wood coffee table in her apartment.

Sighing, she readjusted her left ruby earring before looking at herself in the mirror. She was quite the sight with her hair held up in a classic bun. It wasn't too tight, but not that all lose either, making for a rather comfortable style. She had decided to leave some loose strands in the front and wear ruby dangled earrings to add to her appearance.

Her dress was a lovely thin styled violet dress with deep red flower patterned beads that imprinted the bottom half. It was long enough to reach her ankles so she wore black opened toed style sandals.

'_Why did I agree to this, again?' _She thought gloomily to herself.

Then she remembered how off balanced Mr. Kyuzo had left her after 'their meeting' yesterday. Her plan to have Mr. Kyuzo sign her dismissal papers had blown up in her face.

'_That's why I'm doing this.' _She thought firmly to herself. She spared herself on final glance in the mirror, before turning out the light and making her way into the hallway.

'_I'll have him sign my papers tonight.' _She resolved. Walking over to the coffee table, Kilara reached out and picked up the music box. Frowning, she felt for the bottom notch and wound it up, before placing it back down and opening the lid.

The music it played was relaxing. Something called _'Music Box Dancer' _if memory served her correctly.

Kilara felt both flattered and shamed for the gift. Here she went out and bought him a cheap tin soldier paperweight and he in return gave her an expensive music box, or at least that what she had thought when she took in its appearance.

It was small, no bigger than her hand. It was polished, dark oak wood with beautiful brown, pink and red painted flower designs on it. The inside was almost vacant. It's walls were the same as the polished oak on the outside, save for the designs. The inside of the lid had a lighter unknown polished wood. The bottom was covered in a red velvet that carried the spiced scent of jasmine perfume and cinnamon.

Over all, it looked precious. Kilara admitted to herself that she didn't usually receive such fine Christmas gifts. Usually the only gifts she received were the average Christmas cards from the office.

Her family sent cards too, but with the three hundred mile distance, that was pretty much all they sent her. Her ex had given her gifts as well, but in all her memory, Kilara decided that she had never gotten a music box from anyone.

It was nice. Alarming, but nice to receive gifs from her usually cold boss.

What made the situation worse was the fact that she had yet to properly thank him for the gift. 'The conference call' had been the last she had seen of him yesterday, and she hadn't seen him yet today, considering it was the weekend.

As the music slowed to a stop, Kilara shut the lid and made her way into the living room, passed the giant window – which gave her an excellent view of the city below her – and into the kitchen behind it.

She had left her dismissal papers on the counter. She had all but a second to reach them, when there was a steady knock at her door. Grabbing them quickly, she ran out of the kitchen and yelled,

"Coming!" Her heart pounded loudly in her chest, despite the fact that she knew whom it was. Running into the living room, she glanced at the clock. It read seven.

'_On time, as usual.' _She thought off handedly. Kilara jumped as she grabbed her purse when the front door opened. Without waiting for an invitation, Kyuzo stepped in made his way into the living room, near Kilara.

'_He didn't even wait for me to get the door. How rude!' _She thought sourly. However, once taking in his appearance, all previous thoughts flew from her mind. There she goes again, losing it!

"Good evening." Mr. Kyuzo rumbled out, after taking a moment to observe his surroundings.

"G-Good Evening." Kilara replied, timidly. She mentally shook herself. Every time she tried to have a decent conversation with this guy, she stuttered! Kyuzo hinted a small smile. He never knew how amusing his secretary truly was.

Warmly, she made her way to him. She paused momentarily, biting her lip in thought, before grabbing his left arm and using it to pull herself more to his height, and pecked him on the cheek.

She backed away, shyly and turned her gaze to the ground, blushing. She cursed her stupidity and wondered what the heck she had been thinking.

"I wanted to thank you for the music box. It's lovely." Kyuzo looked surprised by her action and choice of words. Eventually his shock melted away and he smiled down at her, even though she couldn't see it.

"If you always thank people in such a manner, I will have to see to it that you receive more of my gifts." He replied amused as he took in her attractive appearance. Kilara did like wise from beneath her bangs.

Her boss was wearing his usual black suit. He looked like he did whenever she saw him in the office, save for his infamous red over coat, which was seemingly missing. Without it, he looked even taller. Kilara almost missed the object in his right hand.

He had gotten her a rose? Blinking, she looked up at him in surprise, only to see that he wasn't looking at her, but what she too was holding. Squeaking at her carelessness, Kilara shoved her dismissal papers into her purse, but the damage had already been done.

"What were those?" He asked in his usual deep monotone voice, with only the slightest hints of curiosity. Kilara shook her head once.

"Nothing." She gave him one of her most convincing smiles, and eventually, Kyuzo lost interest.

"You look beautiful." He said finally, before handing her the rose. It was a dark violet that could have easily matched her dress. Smiling pleasantly, she accepted it.

"Thank you." She said softly. She shifted under his intense gaze, before deciding that the flower needed water. Silently, she dismissed herself and made her way back to the kitchen. Kyuzo followed at a leisurely pace behind her, but stopped in front of the giant window overlooking the city.

Kilara smirked from inside the kitchen as she placed the rose in a glass full of water. Living on the twenty-third floor of an apartment building had it advantages. Silently, she made her way back over to him.

"Like the view?" She asked, amused. Kyuzo looked down at her momentarily, before turning his gaze back to the window without saying a word. Kilara sighed at his lack of response, before an idea popped into her head.

"Come on." She insisted as she grabbed Kyuzo's left hand, guiding him to the window. Which in fact turned out to be a door that led to a small patio.

Once the two were outside, the wind sped up and played with Ms. Kilara's hair.

"Oh." She shouted annoyed and backed up to the other end of the balcony to fix her hair. Kyuzo smiled at her again. She truly was beautiful The affect of the city lights added to her already attractive figure, making her eyes stand all the more out.

In all honesty, Mr. Kyuzo had specifically hired Ms. Kilara Hotaru for not only her skill, but her looks as well. He wouldn't admit it to anyone, though. It was a foolish disadvantage when he learned that she was already in a relationship.

The picture on her desk and ring she wore confirmed his suspicion and he had been forced to look elsewhere. His hunt eventually led him to another attractive young lady, but not one as beautiful as Ms. Kilara.

The other lady, Miss Atogama Akigo had been special, but not so much as Ms. Kilara. Atogama had been more outspoken and stubborn where Ms. Kilara had been more submissive and understanding. Where Miss Atogama had been pretty and experienced, Ms. Kilara had been beautiful and innocent.

And as much as he had tried, Kyuzo hadn't been able to lose his interest of Ms. Kilara. Even after three months of being with Atogama. Eventually he was found out, and Atogama – tired of playing second to another – left him.

Kyuzo hadn't been so much upset with losing her, than the fact that his relationship with Ms. Kilara hadn't gone anywhere. So he went on a much needed Christmas break to vent his frustration.

It had been by pure luck that he had received word when he was gone, that Ms. Kilara had finally broken up with the other man. Which meant she was now available and Mr. Kyuzo had decided to come back to his company.

He was even more fortunate to find upon his return, a gift from the object of his attention – Ms. Kilara. If anyone else had gotten him such a pathetic gift as tin soldier he would have taken offense and been angered that they had snuck into his office.

But seeing that it had been Ms. Kilara, Kyuzo found the gift charming and creative. It had given him the perfect opportunity to advance his poor relationship with his beautiful secretary.

It had only taken a few hours to purchase the music box, but when he learned that it would take a couple days to deliver it, he had been forced to wait to thank Kilara for her gift. So he went about his usual routine and even had a few ladies over to bite back suspicion of his ulterior motives…

The roaring sound of vehicles below him brought Kyuzo out of his thoughts.

"I wish I had a camera to capture how beautiful you are right now." Kyuzo mused aloud. Kilara smiled in response, before she shivered slightly and walked back over to him.

"If you want, we can come back here after dinner and –

She cut herself off, not knowing how to continue, even though Kyuzo caught the gist of her words. From his earlier advances in his office, Kyuzo had been put under the impression to take it slow with Ms. Kilara seeing that she had shied away from him. But after the kiss in the living room, and now the half spoken invitation back to her apartment, Kyuzo decided to speed up his plans, a little.

"That's sounds great." He smirked.

"It can be your way of repaying me for the rose." He added on, smugly. Kilara blinked at him.

"Unless you want to repeat the display in the living room." He continued, finally looking down at her. Kilara blushed and her eyes widened.

'_Is he, is he teasing me?' _She thought incredulously. But before Kilara could respond, Kyuzo decided to take his own advice and leaned down to plant a small chaste kiss on her lips.

The action was quick and anonymous, just like all his other actions, and before she had a chance to comprehend what was happening, he pulled away.

"Shall we go?" He asked, as he stepped back into the apartment and held the door open. Kilara shivered against the wind, already missing his presence before she decided to go in.

Once in, Kyuzo silently shut the door and walked with her back into the living room, so she could pick up her forgotten purse. Kyuzo decided to leave her to her own devices as she fiddled with it and made his way over to the hallway to inspect the music box he had given her.

"I hope you find this to your liking." He said, as he picked up the box to inspect. Kilara looked over to him after she finished fiddling with her purse, thoughts of what happened in the balcony still fresh in her mind.

"I love it." She said smiling. Kyuzo nodded at her response, before setting it down and moving to the door. Gracefully he opened it, and bowed.

"After you." Kilara silently wondered at how much he changed from the cold hearted boss to this attractive gentlemen before her. She didn't have much time to ponder this however, for once again she found herself exiting her apartment.

After locking it, she turned to Kyuzo who waited, with suspected impatience a few feet away from her.

"Do you want to take the stairs?" He asked wryly before the two of them crossed the hall over to the elevator. They waited in silence for the door, all the while Kilara flustered under Kyuzo's intense gaze.

The beep signaling the elevator brought them both back to focus.

"Finally." Kyuzo muttered in dry humor. But when the door finally opened and they entered, the two found themselves surrounded by a tired nanny looking after seven restless three year olds who were all currently flinging chocolate pudding at each other.

A perfect start for their date.


	3. In the Lounge

Disclaimer: I don't own Samurai 7

"_It's alright. I think you look lovely, even with the pudding."_

Ms. Kilara blushed another light shade of read at the memory of Mr. Kyuzo's words. Rolling her eyes, she tried to shove thoughts of their date last week into the back of her head. Entering the elevator, she straitened and pressed the button to her office floor.

Slowly, she felt it come to life under her feet as it began its ascend to the seventeenth floor.

Opening her small mirror, Ms. Kilara took in her sight. Her hair was down for once in light curls, with the exception of two hair combs on either side of her head, keeping her hair from falling in her face.

"_You have lovely hair."_

The combs were an expensive gold that were so polished that you could see your reflection in them. They had pretty swerves that dressed the top of each comb. She had gotten the combs as a birthday gift from her family two years ago and had never had the courage to wear them until now, always thinking that the occasion would never call for them.

_Floor 3._

Her outfit was quite the sight. Her usual gray suit jacket and matching skirt was replaced by a light blue dress that swept right above her knees. It pinned her at her waist and breasts, but still held a modest loose look to it. The color was not too high, but not low in a 'v' cut with no sleeves to it. She had a necklace on too, that was gold and easily matched her hairpins.

She had on light natural make up to add to her appearance. Normally, she didn't dress up this much just to go to work.

_Floor. 7._

But today was the first day that Ms. Kilara would see Mr. Kyuzo since their miss – hap date last week. Kilara shrunk at her thoughts and reached to press some more buttons on the elevator to stall for time before she reached her cubicle on the seventeenth floor.

_Floor 9._

She recalled that after their ride on the apartment elevator she had gotten off covered in chocolate pudding and completely embarrassed.

"_It's alright. I think you look lovely, even with the pudding."_

She wouldn't have gone through with the date if her boss hadn't coaxed her into his car with his gently words and compliments. Fortunately, there were no more incidents until after they had gotten to the restaurant and had ordered their meals.

Floor. 10 

The waiter just had to screw things up by tripping over a chair and accidentally bumping into her purse and spilling its content all over the floor. The poor fool got her into so much trouble. She had completely forgotten about her resignation papers in her purse, being too caught up in the thought that her boss was coming back to _her_ apartment after dinner.

Ironic that it never happened.

_Floor 11._

She should have known that he would be a gentleman and assist her in cleaning up her purse's contents. It was just by sure chance that he would have come across her resignation papers.

Sucking in a quick breath. Ms. Kilara stretched out her hand and stopped the elevator completely on floor 12.

'_I can take the stairs from here.' _She thought to herself as the door rang and she stepped out. Glancing around, Ms. Kilara sagged with relieved to see everyone at work, taking little or no interest in her. Apparently no one knew of her date with the company's top boss.

Timidly, Kilara made her way to the stairs on the other side of the floor. Her thoughts still lingering on last week.

She hadn't meant for it to happen, honest to all. But the look on his face after reading her papers just made Ms. Kilara feel miserable.

He hadn't said anything as he silently handed her papers back. Smiling sadly with a face she had never seen on him, he asked her in a small voice if it was alright if he resigned a bit early.

She was so shocked and disappointed that she hadn't responded and had been force to watched as he whispered a distant goodnight and left. She had been so paralyzed by what took place that it had taken her an extra ten minutes before she had left the restaurant.

Of course, part to blame for her delayed departure was the fact that she had to finish cleaning up her purse, but the effect was still the same.

And now here she was climbing stairs in a fancy dress with her high-heeled shoes in one hand, trying to delay her time before she reached floor seventeen where she would no doubt have a lovely confrontation with her boss.

Sighing sadly at what could have been, Kilara watched as she passed floor thirteen. Unknowingly picking up speed in her distressed state.

'_Oh, why do both our offices have to be on the seventeenth floor!' _she whined to herself, watching with dread as she climbed her way past floor 15 with anticipating drama.

Back in his office, Mr. Kyuzo watched the clock intensely as the hour rang up four minutes before nine a.m. – four minutes before his secretary came in for work.

Mr. Kyuzo's eyebrow twitched at the thought of her. He recalled that evening with her and how betrayed and saddened he had felt seeing that after all the time he had spent waiting for her had been wasted. He knew now she had just wanted to leave the company and had been kissing up to him.

Kyuzo flinched. It was a fact that still stung.

At first he had been furious and had come back to his townhouse with the plot to fire her. But after some thought, he realized, she was resigning and after a few phone calls, had settled to have her office moved to the other side of the floor and far away from him.

Mr. Kyuzo just couldn't stand the thought of having her cubicle across from his office one more day after what had happened. Her being that close to him was just too painful. Besides, she would be gone in a few days. It was only a temporary solution anyway.

Sighing to himself, Mr. Kyuzo looked at the clock. It read one minute until nine. Rising out of his chair with a bit of sluggishness, he reluctantly made his way out of his office.

His secretary as of yet didn't know about her new cubicle whereabouts and would no doubt come back here to her usual spot. Mr. Kyuzo anticipated such a move and planned to have someone inform her of her new office so he wouldn't have to tell her himself.

But knowing that she would be close to him, even for such a short time was too much for him to handle. So he decided to leave for a little while.

"I think I'll take a walk."

Panting to herself, Ms. Kilara looked at her watched. It read nine exactly.

"Great, I'm late!" She groaned to herself. Picking up her speed, she made it to the seventeenth floor and paused to catch her breath before sliding on her shoes and making her way steadily to her cubicle, taking extra care to be as quiet as a mouse.

She made a silent prayer for peace and turned the corner to her office, only to see it completely vacant, save for a few scraps of paper.

Her first reaction to such a sight was to assume that she was in the wrong cubicle, but after a couple of rational seconds she realized it was her cubicle. Further more, she realized that someone had moved all her possessions.

'_Or thrown them away.' _She thought grimly. Her thoughts only worsened when she saw a man moving what she assumed were his own items into her office. The man wasn't rude, but he took no notice of her as he busied by her, making quite a few trips from the cubicle and back again. Only pausing after he was finished to ask her,

"Are you the previous occupant of this cubicle?" Ms. Kilara stood silently as more thoughts of rejection and despair entered her mind all the while tears collected in her eyes.

"What does it matter?!" She cried suddenly before turning swiftly around and jolting clear across the room and as far away from there as she possibly could, failing to hear what the rest of the man had to say.

Panting, Ms. Kilara picked up speed while she wiped viciously at her teary blurred vision. She had no idea where her legs were taking her but at that moment, she didn't care.

"How could he do this to me?"She asked sadly to herself. As she turned a sharp corner and found herself in an empty lounge.

"Am I really that awful? I didn't mean to hurt him. I was even starting to rethink my resignation!" Crying loudly she made her way remorsefully into the room, reaching out to a vending machine closest to her to steady her balance.

"Why did this have to happen!" Her voice died out after that as her words became quiet sobs.

Reflecting Ms. Kilara looked into her reflection through the glass window on the vending machine. Her teary eyes reminded her of another time. A time when she and her ex had first broken up. It had been six months after they had first started going out and they had gotten into a petty fight and had hurt each other's feelings with rash words that neither of them meant.

Of course, they had gotten back together in a record of seven hours but it had hurt all the same.

Ironically, the last fight that they had hadn't been as serious.

_'It's because he was slipping away from me and the feelings that I had had for him were gone.'_

"I only cry about people who I think are important to me!" She realized to herself, crying louder with the clarity.

"I wanted to give Mr. Kyuzo a chance! I really liked that guy!" Kilara was surprised that she was getting so upset over a guy she had only gone out with once, but in an after thought, she realized that she had known him for a while now and had on secret levels always been fond of him.

"I hate this!" She shouted suddenly after her tears had dried someone. Viciously, she pounded against the vending machine, all the while sinking against it for support.

It had been quite some time since Ms. Kilara had had any time to let anything out, being the reserved person that she was. And she found that she felt a lot better afterwards, so she continued. The fact that no one was in the lounge room made things all the better.

"I don't even care if this costs me my job. I just want a chance to make things right with him." She continued as the drama finally caught up with her and she began to exhaust herself.

"Those stupid papers…" She muttered to herself as she sagged into a sitting position on the floor. Her hair now resembled an exotic mess, but Ms. Kilara didn't care. Absently, she banged her fists once more against the vending machine, still finding it nice to vent in such a way.

And after realizing that her voice was now hoarse from all the excessive crying, she found that she could still hit the machine with non-productive force to satisfy her frustration and angered sadness.

"…I'll rip them up." She vowed to herself as she momentarily closed her eyes in drowsiness and rested her forehead against the vending machine. After a few minutes of utter silence, she opened her eyes and leaned away from the vending machine to study the damage done to it.

Surprisingly it only had a few small dents in the window and on the inside a few of the supplies had fallen from their rightful positions on the racks.

"Wow. This thing is sturdy." Kilara muttered to herself and sniffed before standing up to study the machine some more.

"I don't think anyone could actually break this thing." She thought, happy to let her mind wonder to such a trivial matter.

Timidly, Ms. Kilara made a fist and swung half-heartedly into the vending machine window. It made a dull thud and the window shook a little, but aside from that it was still intact. The only damage done was to her small fists that were so unused to such treatment such as punching vending machines.

They mildly burned and Ms. Kilara reflected with a scowl that they would most likely be red and swollen tomorrow, but at the moment she didn't care.

Bracing herself, she made another fist before swinging it.

"That's company property, my dear." So surprised by the sudden voice, that Ms. Kilara jumped and squealed making it impossible for to continue her action of punching the vending machine. Caught in complete surprise, Ms. Kilara realized in shame that she hadn't even turned around to survey the lounge room and check if anyone was in there before she started her tantrum.

"I must admit. I thought I had you figured out," Ms. Kilara trembled at the easily recognized voice. Keeping her gaze down, she brought her head up to eye level with the speaker that she could now detect was in the far side of the room. She could almost feel his smirk.

"but that show you just put on completely proved me wrong." Shakily, she sucked in a deep breath before bringing her unreadable eyes up to meet Mr. Kyuzo's.


End file.
